"What's your name, dear?"
"Mercy. Mercy Callahan."
"That's a lovely name. I'm Corina and my husband is Mitchell. I'm sorry that we're meeting under such circumstances, but I can't say that we're surprised."
How could they not be surprised? I'm thoroughly confused now.
Chapter eighteen
Amos
Almosthome.
Country roads aren’t usually known for their smoothness, but the bumps on these go the extra mile. My lips twist in a grin. I’m surprised they didn’t jostle Mercy awake when I brought her here.
I throw out a hand to steady the peace offerings—a milkshakeanda malt—in the cardboard cupholder so they don’t spill on my leather seats. Even a diabetic can have sweets every once in a while, right? They're still cold and only melting a little bit, so I'll take whichever one she doesn't want.
Unless she chooses both. A grin tugs at my face when I think of my woman's appetite. I hope she ate something while I was out. Don’t want her going hungry.
My Mercy.
As quickly as it grew, my grin falters as I remember thewordsshe spat at me.
Do you even remember what happens to the female companion the monster begs his creator to make for him? She gets destroyed. Destroyed by the scientist, just like you're doing to me.
We both need to move on from this and chalk it up to a learning experience. Relationships aren't always perfect, and this is a prime example that sometimes a little space away from each other is just the thing to bring things back into balance. I've practically kept her under my armpit the entire time she's been here and doing so made us both lash out in ways we wouldn't normally.
Turning down my long driveway, I decide that I'll take her out for dinner tonight. Woo her the right way. Yeah, that's exactly what I'll do, and let her pick a dress from what I bought for her. Then we'll eat a nice dinner and come back home to cuddle in bed.
Cold, sticky ice cream gets all over my hand when I jump out of the truck and grab the cupholder. Wiping it off on my jeans, I take the porch steps two at a time, so beyond ready to see my kitten. Hopefully she's calmed down a little now. With a quick press of my finger to the reader, the door unlocks. "Mercy? I'm home."
At the answering silence, I place the cupholder on the entryway table and glance around. Where is she? Could be she just didn't hear me. "Kitten? Where are you? I brought something for you."
Nothing. Maybe she's in the bathroom. I step lightly down the hallway to our room. I’m a little relieved to see the door shut. If she’s in the bathroom, she may have closed the door by habit. I’ll just let her know I’m here.
I poke my head in. "Mer—"What?No... No.My throat closes up at what I see. The bed is in disarray, the room a total wreck. Did someone break in and hurt my sweet Mercy? "Mercy! Where are you, baby?"
Is there any blood?It pains me to look, but I have to be sure.
No. No blood that I can see. Only slightly less worried, I search the reading room and kitchen. No Mercy.
I don’t think she’d be upstairs in the empty rooms, but I climb the stairs just in case, a niggling suspicion beginning to eat at me in a way I don’t like very much.
"Kitten?" She’s not upstairs.
Once I've covered every square inch, I go back to the bedroom and stare at the wreckage. Numb with disbelief, I finally admit to myselfwhatI didn't want to believe before, the words resonating in the empty room. "Mercyranfrom me. She swore she wouldn't, but she did."
But she couldn't have gotten far. If she somehow left right after I did, then she only has a head start of about an hour or so. Still too much of one considering the danger of the forest. I need to find her before she gets hurt.
Ring!My cell phone makes me jump.Surelyit's not Mercy. She doesn't have my number. And what would she even be calling from? Not fromherphone—I have her SIM card in the truck. I reach to my hip to answer it, but it's not there. A curse leaves me. Must have forgotten to take it when I left.
There's so much mess on the floor, it takes forever to find it. "My phone. Where’s my phone? There you are, you little devil."Under some lingerie I’d bought for her.
Dad. I can't talk to him right now. Mercy's more important than anything. I silence his call and holster my phone.
The noise immediately starts up again. With another growled curse, I answer with a clipped tone. "Now's not a good time, Dad. I... I lost something and need to look for it."
A pause. "You know, Amos, the strangest thing happened to me just a little bit ago. Mom and I were in town and decided to drop off some jellies she canned for you."
